On Monday, the BluePrint staff learned it had received SNO Distinguished Site award for the 10th straight year.
The SNO Distinguished Site program recognizes Student Newspapers Online websites that achieve excellence in 5 categories: continuance coverage, site excellence, story page excellence, excellence in writing, multimedia excellence, and audience engagement.
The site is reviewed by a team from SNO and receives badges to track the process.
“There’s always a feeling of accomplishment when we earn this distinction,” said BluePrint advisor Mr. Kerry Naylor. “It’s not easy. SNO holds us to a high standard, and if your site isn’t there, they are sending your submission back for more work.”
The BluePrint is one of only three Pennsylvania publications to receive the award this year, and one of 54 in the US to be named distinguished site.
Mr. Naylor said a strong group of seniors helped get the publication where it needed to be.
“This year, multimedia and continuous coverage were a challenge, but hard work from people like Jordan Hescox, Jayden Bartlebaugh, Kate Wallace, Kevin Liang, Olivia Hess, and Abi Eckenrod helped secure those badges,” Mr. Naylor said. “But at the end of the day it’s a team effort.”
Mr. Naylor also credited seniors Zach Pier, Ethan Johnston, and Connor Cobaugh for grinding out sports stories every day, and Chloe Brown for taking the initiative to not only have her own column but to pick up unrelated stories when needed.
The honor caps off the BluePrint’s first decade as on online news source.
“This is our tenth year as an online publication, and it’s our tenth SNO award,” said Mr. Naylor. “It never gets old, and each year is a new challenge. I still remember the staff in 2015 working so hard to be the first to do it and taking so much pride in achieving it. Getting a distinguished site award should always be celebrated because it’s a standard of excellence that not everyone can reach.”
